Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Harringay Ladder Traffic - Is One-Way a Solution?
I'm assuming that most Harringay residents will now have received a copy of the local traffic consultation leaflet through their door (scanned copy attached). On the leaflet you'll see four options for the future of how traffic is managed on the Ladder. These are copied in below, exactly as they appear on the leaflet.
Alternative package WL1: Minor improvements: Minor improvements relating to Wightman
Road and the Ladder area, but with lower traffic impacts and costs
Alternative package WL2: Wightman Road one-way (northbound): An intermediate alternative (with intermediate traffic impacts and costs), that would make Wightman Road one-way northbound, with the opportunity to create a continuous cycle facility along Wightman Road
Alternative package WL3: Wightman Road one-way (southbound): The opposite of alternative package WL2, that would make Wightman Road one-way southbound
Alternative package WL4: Wightman Road closed (filtered): The most radical and transformational alternative, that includes the closure (filtering) of Wightman Road, similar to the arrangement that was in place during the bridge replacement works in 2016; this alternative would have significant traffic impacts and costs
When people first heard about the one way option, it seemed to them to be a good option - not too radical, but radical enough to make a difference.
I have to put my hand up and say that I've been against the one-way option from the outset. Across the world one-way systems are being abandoned because they can cause more problems than they solve. Recently Haringey removed the Tottenham Hale one-way system.
Essentially one-way systems create an environment solely based around the needs of the car. Whilst the approach may have a role in certain areas, places where people live are not the right place for it. One way systems favour the movement of the car against all else. They dehumanise an area and make it much less liveable.
I'm told that the one-way option is the solution favoured by the Council. I have to admit to being somewhat suspicious about the reasons for this. Is it a coincidence that this comes at the same time as their plans for Wood Green have revealed that they want Wightman Road to be part of a new primary route to serve a revamped Wood Green? I can't say I'm thrilled about the Ladder being sacrificed as part of Wood Green traffic feeder system. (By the way you have two days left to comment on this, or any other aspect of the Wood Green Plans in the current Wood Green Consultation).
From various studies, I've gathered the following information about how one-way systems impact on neighbourhoods.
1. Studies show that speeds tend to be higher on one-way streets. Two-way streets tend to be slower due to "friction"
2. Safety tends to be lower with studies suggesting that drivers pay less attention on them because there's no conflicting traffic flow. One study showed that collisions are twice as likely in one-way streets as in similar streets with two-way traffic
3. Livability: vehicles stop less on one-way streets, which is hard for bikers and pedestrians.
4. Traffic flows on one-way streets are often significantly higher than on two-way streets.
5. A US study showed that one-way streets are associated with higher crime rates and lower property prices than two way streets. It says that two-way streets "bring slower traffic and, as a result, more cyclists and pedestrians, that also creates more "eyes on the street" — which, again, deters crime. A decline in crime and calmer traffic in turn may raise property values.
South Gloucestershire Council recently issued the following warning:
Many streets suffer from ‘rat-running’ or high volumes of traffic. Creating one-way streets is one way of solving this problem. However, there are also disadvantages to altering the direction of traffic flow in this way. Residents should be aware that the following may occur:
- Some through traffic will simply be diverted onto other, less suitable streets
- The new one-way street may attract more traffic, albeit in the remaining direction
- Residents may have to access their street by an alternative, and less convenient, route, which may involve the use of other neighbouring streets
- Traffic speeds may increase due to drivers’ perception that there is no on-coming traffic
- Without physical traffic calming, there may be an increase in accidents and their severity
- Some short sections of one-way street are likely to be contravened by drivers – which may require police enforcement.
With a possible hint about Haringey's wider agenda, they added "The council is unlikely to create a one-way street in isolation, due to the costs and resources required to carry out such a scheme. It is much more likely that it will consider changing the direction of traffic on a street as part of a wider review of traffic management in an area."
One US Study said, "If your goal is to move traffic quickly from one place to another, then one-ways are a great method to accomplish that. But, if your goal is a productive place with thriving local businesses, then slowing traffic with two-way streets is a much better plan. It's a tried and true method."
For me there's no case at all for a one-way street other than it serves the Council's plans for Wood Green.
Tags for Forum Posts: harringay traffic study
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Harringay Traffic.pdf, 3.4 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jez Phillips on
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Hugh
So glad to see you making the case against one ways. They do seem to dehumanise the street and increase the car / people, environment conflict - think of the Seven Sisters Road from Holloway Road to Finsbury Park.
I cycle through Tavistock Place every working day - and, granted, what follows is not a very scientific assessment - this does feel like a completely different beast to what a one way Wightman Road would be like (more like Seven Sisters Road)
Drop in Q&A sessions are next week - see you at the first one?
Cheers
JP
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for flagging-up the drop-in sessions, Jez. For those who missed it, they are as follows:
- Wednesday 5 April, from 6:30-8:30pm at the St Paul's Parish Hall, Wightman Road N8
- Friday 7 April, from 6:30-8:30pm at the Turkish Cypriot Community Association, 628-630 Green Lanes, N8 OSD
- Saturday 8 April, from 12-2pm at the Woodlands Park Nursery School & Children’s Centre, Woodlands Park Road, N15 3SD
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Permalink Reply by PaulG on
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Well I cycle along that road every day and I also cycle down Tollington Road every day (past the old cinema - now a church - and past the Sobel towards Holloway Road).
This morning I saw a group of people waiting to cross Tollington Road and thought how difficult it was for pedestrians facing this river of one-way traffic.
But thinking about it more now, would it not be even worse to face a two-way river?
The reason that GL is not "dehumanised" despite the number of cars is not, I would suggest, because the road is two-way but because those cars regularly stop and people get out to go to the shops and restaurants etc. (Not that I am in favour of the amount of parking...)
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Well the obvious point about safety which you haven't mentioned is that people crossing the road only have to look one way which makes crossing quicker as well as safer...
I think the point about Wood Green is that if they do finally bring in the suggested upgrade then more people will / may well want to drive there. That would increase traffic flow on Wightman; making Wightman northbound-only, however, would offset that.
Presumably what HC want to do, though, is make WR north-only and GL south-only. I'm not sure how that would work though. Presumably traffic heading north from Manor House would have to turn left at Homebase?
Questions, questions...
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Read again. Point 2:
Safety tends to be lower with studies suggesting that drivers pay less attention on them because there's no conflicting traffic flow. One study showed that collisions are twice as likely in one-way streets as in similar streets with two-way traffic
As to your presumption about one-way offsetting higher vehicular road demand, this isn't a safe assumption. Studies show that one-way roads attract ore traffic because they're often designed purely for the needs of motorised vehicles.
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I read your post, Hugh. Collisions doesn't necessarily mean collisions between cars and pedestrians. In any event, you haven't provide the detail of any of those studies or of the one-way streets they looked at. Furthermore, there are an enormous number of variables. But if I lived on Wightman Road - which I don't - I'd be glad if I knew that my kids and I only had to look one way to see if the road was clear before crossing.
Regarding your second point, I didn't say that making Wightman 1-way would not attract more traffic. What I did say is that closing it to (say) people going south will take away half it's current users. You then of course have to add the "extras" who will be attracted to it but I very much doubt it would be enough to make up the difference.
HOWEVER, if GL was also made one-way (the other way) you would probably be right up there again.
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Oh, and all roads since around 1960 have it seems to me been designed for the needs of motorised vehicles...
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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True, but Wightman Road was designed in the late 19th century and hasn't got any wider or less residential
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Gosh, that was such a long time ago Paulie.... and in such an enlightened time.
This was in the FT's alphaville blog this morning and is very though provoking on the future of traffic.
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Permalink Reply by JoeW on
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Thanks for posting that link John, I've read a lot of articles about traffic in the last year or so but that was one of the most interesting. Particularly enjoyed the video link:
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That's actually not the case Paulie, residential streets I think since at least the '70s have been designed as cul-de-sacs and crescents and similar layouts i.e. which allow access to residents vehicles and their deliveries etc., but are no use for through traffic. This is a deliberate design to promote the residents' living environment and wellbeing rather than the convenience of motor vehicles.
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